If you’re ready to take your business plan to the next level, you’ll want to keep reading. The first step for writing a planning document for your business is designing the structure for your plan. With a clear and coherent structure, the task of planning is much easier. You simply fill in the content and Presto! you have a working plan for your business. And the structure can be reused each time you need to make a change to your plans.

To help you get started, we designed a universal structure that will fit any business, large or small, at any stage of its growth, from start-up to preparing for sale.

Here is an outline of the Plan Genie 5-Step Structure. This will help you document where you are today, where you intend to take your company, and how you will get there. Let’s dive into the structure and take actionable steps!

Step 1 – Plan Summary

This is a short, 1-2 page, document that contains the following information

– Your Unique Business Proposition – What makes your company remarkable?

– Your Purpose – “Why” does your company exist, as seen from the customer’s perspective?

– Your long-term goals (3 years)

– Your short-term goals (1 year)

– A list of major action items that you intend to pursue that will help you accomplish your goals (strategy)

Step 2 – Values/Culture

Another short document that identifies and clarifies how you expect everyone in the

company to behave and exercise judgment when dealing with non-routine challenges that arise.

Step 3 – Where you are now

Four important pieces of information that explain your current picture and help you identify changes going forward:

– Description of your target market

– Description of the products and services that you offer, with pricing.

– Description of your current partners, alliances, and influencers

– Description of your major competitors

Step 4 – Departmental Action Plans

This document contains a list of 90-day action plans/projects that covers up to 8 sections of your business:

– Marketing

– Sales

– Operations/service delivery

– People, (attraction, selection retention)

– Technology

– Partners, Alliances, Influencers

– Finance and Administration

– Community and Environment

Step 5 – Organization Structure

Two diagrams: your current organization chart, and a future chart that shows the changes in resources needed to execute the action plans laid out in Step 4.

Once you have captured this information on your initial draft, it is easy to review and update. It’s truly the structuring and planning that have a lasting impact on achieving your business goals. Now that you’re ready to move your business forward, consider passing on the gems by sharing this article with another leader. For more information on documenting a plan for your business, please visit our website plangenie.com.

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